Kit Palmer | April 19, 2004
Nathan Woods (pictured) and Bobby Bonds have been trading wins in the last four rounds of the World Off-Road Championship Series, and it was Woods’ turn to stand on the top of the box following the Price, Utah, round of the series at the Carbon Canyon Fairgrounds, yesterday. Woods, on the Montclair Yamaha/Zip-Ty Racing YZ450F, pretty much led from start to finish in the two-hour race. KTM’s Kurt Caselli led off the start, but Woods got him for good within the first couple of miles. (Mechanical problems would eventually prevent Caselli from finishing in the top 10.)
A distant second went to another Montclair Yamaha/Zip-Ty Racing YZ450F-mounted rider, Russ Pearson. Pearson got into second just before the halfway point and stayed there the rest of the way without feeling too much pressure from anyone.
As for previous-round winner Bonds, the Kawasaki Team Green rider was forced to make a couple of unscheduled pit stops, which meant he had to play catch up all day. The KX250-mounted rider charged hard all day and ended up third for his efforts, finishing one spot ahead of fellow Team Green rider, Destry Abbott.
Rounding out the top five overall was Honda CRF450R pilot Mark Tilley, who held second for much of the first half of the race.
Sixth place went to defending champ Ty Davis who never really could make up for a bad start, which was complicated by dusty conditions.
Honda CRF450R-mounted privateer Robert Naughton mounted a late-race sprint that netted him seventh place, passing Kawasaki Team Green’s David Pearson just a few turns from the finish.
Kit Palmer | Off-Road Editor
Kit Palmer started his career at Cycle News in 1984 and he’s been testing dirt and streetbikes every since – plus covering any event that uses some form of a knobby tire. He’s also our resident motorcycle mileage man with a commute of 120 miles a day.
